Firemen smashed a ceiling to remove a huge python from a family's home in Thailand.

The officers bashed holes through the ceiling panels as they hunted the 12ft-long reticulated python terrorising the two-storey house in Chonburi province on April 30.

Footage shows the specialists dragging the python by the tail from one of the holes. The operation took an hour, and the reptile was placed inside a fertiliser sack to be released into the wilderness.

Resident Theerapong Udomdee, 51, said the python had been lurking around the house for several months, preying on their pets before it was finally caught.

He said: 'A neighbour spotted the python slithering on the roof, so I called the firemen for help. I was desperate enough that I was alright with them breaking my ceiling.

'I have been living in fear because I know the snake was just nearby. My neighbours see it around too. I couldn't catch it on my own.

'The python has never attacked me, but around eight of our kittens disappeared from the house.'

The reticulated python is found throughout Southeast Asia, where they live in forests, swamps, canals and even in cities, causing them to come into conflict with humans. The species is one of the world's largest snakes and can eat humans, cats, dogs, birds, rats and other snakes.